Myth of Arrival

Whenever any writer or group of writers proves me wrong and attempts to fight unjust causes I must stand up and take note. I found this on Poets & Writers, Inc.:

Eighteen writers, including three who have won the Nobel Prize, recently signed a letter to the editor published in several newspapers around the world that condemns Israel’s actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter, which was published in the Independent (England), Le Monde (France), El País (Spain), and La República (Peru), describes Israel's position as an "illegal military occupation of the West Bank" and criticizes "the systematic appropriation of [Palestinian] natural resources.”

The list of writers who signed the letter includes poets Martín Espada, Carolyn Forché, and Jessica Hagedorn; fiction writers Chris Abani, Russell Banks, Arundhati Roy, and Gore Vidal, and Nobel Prize-winning fiction writers Toni Morrison and José Saramago.

To read the full text of the letter, visit the Nation.

  

Here are two more translations. These are my first attempts at working on the poetry from Amalia Iglesias Serna's Dados y Dudas (1996). Mistakes will be made by me. However, if someone, somewhere, reads my crude attempts and is able to help bring these poems into English with the same beauty I find in their original language then I will feel I have done a good thing. Until I am able to correct my errors as I go along, thank you for your patience and, please, enjoy.

Y cuántas veces
aquella misma sensación de arcilla
aferrada a mis pies,
el tacto de sus manos
entre soga y diadema.

En el centro del frío
todo fue tiento alrededor,
la vida suspendida en su cedazo de nieve.

Aquella niña atrapada en el paisaje
me mira todavía
desde la espesura del espejo.

And how many times
that same sensation from the obstinate clay
on my feet,
the concern of her hands
between rope and crown.

In the center of the coldness
everything is touched around,
life suspended in her sieve of snow.

That girl caught in the landscape
still looking at me
from the depth of the mirror.

I do believe when I was first going through the book it was this poem with reference to Lake Michigan winter that drew me to it. Now a note on my translations. In the original she writes about "kilómetros," and I have changed it to "miles." I have mixed feelings about this … and it was mainly because kilometers doesn't roll off the tongue for me (as a gringo) when I read it out loud. But, if others feel I have sacrificed the spirit of the poem, I will gladly repair any damages. Regardless, thank you, Amalia, for this poem.

Desde el piso diecinueve de un rascacielos
el lago Michigan helado, lápida de cristal,
un blues para la noche desde arriba.
Pensar si no habré muerto a miles de kilómetros
y el purgatorio sean diez grados bajo cero,
esos puentes alzados como cruces
o esta soledad de nieve contra el rostro.

From the nineteenth floor of a skyscraper
frozen Lake Michigan, a crystal tablet,
a blues for the night from above.
To think that I have not died for these thousands of miles
and purgatory is ten degrees below zero,
those raised bridges like crossings
or this solitude, snow against my face.

"Rock and roll the way God intended"
– Warren Ellis (diepunyhumans.com)

My brother Eli and his wife Mary make up L.A.'s greatest, the Monolators, next to Hang On The Box, my favorite band in the world.

Back in April I sent Eli a Detroit garage band CD I discovered. This week Eli wrote about it. It is true I stole large "quotes" from this latest blog entry, Feed Us A Live Insect, but not all! I urge you all to read Eli's blog. It is simply lovely!

… I'll babble aimlessly about a record I'm listening to at the moment, an awe-inspiringly great comp on Norton Records of mid-sixties garage rock that my brother gave me for my birthday called Friday At The Hideout: Boss Detroit Garage 1964-1967. See, The Hideout was a "teen club" and record label out of Detroit, and basically was a result of the city's post-war white flight phenomenon: while Motown/rhythm and blues happened in the inner city, lots and lots of middle class white kids were stuck out in the suburbs buying Rolling Stones and Byrds records and starting garage bands. Or at least I gather that's what happened.

I dunno if you've heard many of these garage/surf/hot rod-type comps, but they're usually collections of scratchy, ultra-obscure 45 rpm records pressed in tiny numbers by ultra-obscure groups made up of sex-crazed teenagers who later became depressingly old and probably went on to form hideously unlistenable 1970's blues bands (or, in this case, became Bob Seger). There isn't really anything on this comp to match the greatness of, say, Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," or "Dirty Water" by The Standells, but there are some gems. Probably the most interesting band on the whole disc would be the all-girl Pleaure Seekers whose blatty ode to underage drinking, "What A Way To Die," still seems strangely relevent these days.

You can still get copies of Boss Detroit Garage, it seems. And since we are talking of Detroit and poets (or at least I am) might I just request anyone in blogland helping me find information about Detroit's Miles Modern Poetry Workshop? I believe it had something to do with the Department of English at Wayne and Dr. Chester Cable. Any and all information will be useful. Regardless of this sidetrack, Eli goes on:

The other great track on here is "Youth And Experience" by Doug Brown And The Omens. This is…well, what the hell is it? Why, it's a get-out-the-youth-vote musical endorsement for then Republican U.S. Senator Bob Griffin! It musta worked, because Bob won the election and served all the way from 1966 to 1979, all thanks (I assume) to the brave rock and roll efforts of Doug Brown And The Omens, who apparently recognized that Bob had both youth (?) and experience on his side. Seriously, this is the best theme song ANY republican has ever had or ever will have, featuring a wickedly catchy chorus and the deathless refrain "keep Michigan off the floor/ by keeping Bob Griffin as our U.S. Sen-a-tor." Again, you think I am making this up? I am not. Like Doug says, give Bob a call, 'cause he's got an action slate for our action state. Except that by now he's about 83 years old.

You are brilliant, bro!

I have had this idea for an ocean-themed Tarot deck for years but only recently did I start to actually sketch out the cards. I wanted to be as faithful to the Rider-Waite deck as possible and still keep a maritime flavor to it. Thus, for example, card 10, Wheel of Fortune is now Migration. Card 11, instead of the traditional "Justice," is now, "La Siren," the Haitian mermaid of beauty.

It was pointed out to me, however, that no one could actually see any details on the deck I was slowly drawing and posting. The thumbnails were, it seemed, far too small. So I uploaded the twelve cards I have come up with so far on Photobucket and we shall try again.

In earlier posts I wrote long, dry essays about each card and my view on how they functioned. I am not including those here. The images are enough for now. I will continue to post new images as they come to me. Until then, please, enjoy.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

My friend, Rina Risper, founder of the NuPoetry Movement, sent me these emails:

Enjoy Lansing's longest running urban poetry scence. Everyone welcome every third Tuesday starting Tuesday, September 19, 2006, the NuPoetry Movement featuring the NuPoets $5.00 cover, Open Mic. begins at 7:30 pm

Gregory's Ice and Smoke
2510 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. Lansing, MI.

A portion of the proceeds will go to Regina Sanchez the wife of our beloved Trinidad Sanchez to assist with funeral and medical expenses. We raised $1,000.00 on August 18, 2006.

We are looking for poets to add to the Nupoets. Must be dedicated to remembering some pieces for some performances to be seriously included in the line up. Interest is welcome from everyone.

Other things going on:

Old School Jazz Cruise presented by Big Boone Production on September 3, 2006 on the Michigan Princess. Live entertainment by Charles and Gwen Scales, Moderntribe
Boarding at 9:00 pm in Lansing, MI, $50 for couples, $30.00 for singles. For the 30 and over crowd. For more information, call 517 862-6773.

And:

The Writers Block — Sunday, September 10, 2006, 200 Block of S. Washington Square. Looking for authors, poets, journalists, songwriters, artists, musicians, booksellers and organizations promoting wares or services. $20 for space $8.00 for table. For more information, go to 223 S. Washington (Way Station Books) or email:

Cheers!